The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday disposed of a petition filed against proposed 'Azadi March' of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and directed the Islamabad capital territory (ICT) administration to decide the JUI-F's application to hold the march at D-Chowk as per law.
Advocate Riaz Hanif Rahi filed the petition in the IHC on October 15, seeking restriction on the opposition parties to hold sit-in as, according to him, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) wants to pressurize the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) through the march.
Hearing the case, Chief Justice IHC Athar Minallah ordered the local administration to decide about Emir JUI-F Fazlur Rehman's application as per law. Justice Minalllah said that the administration should ensure rights of all citizens including protesters and those who don't want to protest. It is the responsibility of the state to protect rights of the citizens, the IHC Chief Justice further said during the hearing.
Justice Minallah asked the petitioner, "What is your demand?" In response, petitioner Rahi said that JUI-F emir has announced a march against the government. "Do you mean that the JUI-F does not have the right to protest?" asked the Chief Justice.
On this the petitioner said, "You can lodge a protest against a policy but not against a democratic government."
The Chief Justice said that protest is a fundamental right of every citizen and such rights of citizens cannot be abolished. No court in the world can abolish the right of protest, Justice Minallah added.
The court adjourned the proceedings for a short time and ordered that all the petitions against the protest be combined to hear them together.
Following the break, Hafiz Ihtisham Ahmed, another petitioner against the march, also appeared in the court along with Rahi.
Justice Minallah recalled that in 2014, the same court had allowed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to protest. The court asked the petitioner, "Are you arguing on behalf of the government? To this, the petitioner said he is only here as an ordinary citizen." He further told the court that the proposed sit-in will affect his rights.
"Neither you nor he is administration, let the local administration do its job," remarked the Chief Justice.
The court while disposing of the petition asked the ICT administration to protect the rights of the citizens.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019